US Court Orders Refunds for $166B IEEPA Tariffs Paid by Importers

A judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade has been designated to oversee litigation concerning the refund of tariffs previously collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a case that could affect hundreds of thousands of importers and more than $160 billion in duties.

Judge Richard Eaton has been appointed as the sole judge responsible for handling cases related to the U.S. government's obligation to refund IEEPA tariffs that were previously determined to have been illegally imposed.

On March 4, following a refund lawsuit filed by a filter manufacturer, Eaton issued a written order instructing the Trump administration to begin initiating procedures to return the tariffs to importers. The judge also scheduled a hearing for Friday and requested that the administration provide an update on progress.

As the Court of International Trade prepared to hold the hearing on March 6, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) submitted a 13-page court briefing outlining the scale and complexity of implementing the refunds.

In the filing, Brandon Lord, Executive Director of Trade Programs and Operations at CBP, reported that as of March 4 more than 330,000 importers had submitted over 53 million import declarations and paid tariffs under the IEEPA framework. The total amount collected reached approximately $166 billion, funds that must now be returned to importers.

The document explained that CBP is facing significant technical and operational challenges in immediately complying with the court's refund order. However, the agency also proposed a plan and timeline for implementing the refunds.

According to CBP, the agency is working 'as quickly as possible' to launch a new automated refund process within 45 days.

The system will involve developing and implementing new functionality within the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), the U.S. customs platform used to track imports. The new feature is designed to streamline the refund process by consolidating importer-based refunds and interest payments, rather than issuing more than 54 million individual refund transactions.

CBP stated in the filing that it is making every effort to ensure the new ACE functionality becomes operational within the 45-day target.

The agency also indicated that, once technical improvements are completed, refunds could begin as early as late April.

Under the new process, importers will face minimal reporting requirements. Companies will only need to submit a declaration listing all tariffs previously paid that are now invalid. Customs officials will then verify the information and calculate the refund amount owed.

CBP estimates that adopting the automated refund system could save more than 4 million hours of staff labor, significantly improving efficiency while processing what is expected to be one of the largest tariff refund efforts in U.S. trade history.